Accelerator for engines



P. E. VINEYARD. ACCELERATOR FOR ENGINES. APPUCATIQN FILED 056.5, 1919.

Patented July 12, 1921.

UNITED STATES rLEAsE. VINEYAnnioF wrnnoivr, TEXAS.

Accrinnaaron ronnnernns.

Specification ofLettcrs Patent. Patented j l 12 192 Application filed December 5, 1919. Serial No. 342,708. 7

ToaZZ who-met may concern." 4

Be it known thatI, PLnAs VINEYARD, a citizen. ofthe United States, residing at lVindom," in the county of F annin and State of Texas, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Accelerators for Engines, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to a new and useful improved form of foot pedal or foot throttle-to beused in connection with the throttle or carburetercontrol on an automobile engine and provides means 't'or-el'l'ectively controlling the speed of an engine by the action of the drivers foot against the foot throttle located in a convenient position on the floor of the car. 1

An object of the invention is to provide a suitably pivotedmfoot pedal arranged in connection with instrumentalities necessary to exercise a controlling relation over the throttle of the ca-rbureter and to work in an independently conjoined relation with the compensate for the swing movement of certain parts used in. the device;

With the above and other objects in view the invention has relationto acertai1i'com bination and arrangement of parts, an example of which is described in "the following specification, pointed out in, the appended claims and illustrated in'the accom panying drawings;- wherein," p f Figure 1 illustrates a perspective view of a form: of automobile engine and steering column with accessory throttle control. 7

Fig. 2 shows a detail view of the parts of the accelerator somewhat enlarged, this View being developed in part from the line an of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 shows a side view of the taken on the line 3--3 of Fig. 1.

A throttle control device constructed in accordance with the conception of my invention makes use of a bracket which may be secured to any convenient part of the enpedal as 'gine or frame of a car, and a hinged member -is carried on the bracket. bell crank it is pivoted on theupper end of thehinged member and oooperateswith an actuating rod and the control throttle rod to T-govern the opening and closing of fthecarbureter of thejautomobile engine; A footthrottle controlJor accelerator control'is connected with the bell crankyand functions to control said carburetor independently of the hand throttle control. a y it 1 i 'Reterring "now more in particular to'the drawings, whereinthe same parts throughout are designatedby identical reference characters the numeral" 1 points out any torin of automobile' engine which is provided with a carbnreter and throttle con- 2 is provided with a means of throttle control comprising a rod 3 with an integral hand actuating lever4; This member 34 is arranged alongside the steering column 5 andadapted to berevolved through a partial revolution by manipulation of the hand lever- 4: by the driver. Anarm 6 is" fixed upon the rod 3* and: pivotally connects with l a lug or pin 7 Wl1lCl1dS integrally formed with, a cuff 7 slidably confined upon a rod 8. A pin 9 is fixed in the rod 8just forward of the cult 7- for'the purpose of limiting the travel ofthe cull 7 upon the throttle control'rnember 8. A; coil. tension spring 8* is fixedto the an and to some point on the l engine for" the purposeof keeping the' rod in an inwardly and normally limited positionb The rodS passes throngh the space between the cylinders oftheengine and has connection with the throttle in the" carbu- 'reter located on the opposite side thereof. This assembly oijpart-sfpermits the control member 8 to mcvebackand forth in sliding contact with the cufi'f? independently of the rod 4;

A foot controt device comprising a bell crank 10 integrally formed with a foot pedal 11 is pivoted upon a plate 13 by suitable bearings and passes through a slotted opening formed in the floor piece ofthe car. The

plate upon which the pedal member is jour,.

naled is secured to the underneath side of the floor, and in a position convenient to the driver that he may reach the same with his foot.

A bracket 14 is fixed on the engine or to any suitable structural part of the car, and a hinge plat 14* is pivoted on the upper end 'arms bifurcated to form a fork 16, and the fork receives the rod 8. The fork is interposed between'the point 9 and the cuff 7.

The fork has ust suflicient play between'thc cuff and the pin to avoid binding when the ball crank is actuated. A link or red 181's .pivotally connected with the bell crank 10 of thefoot pedal 11 and the bell crank 15 to establish a -movable control from the foot pedal 11 to the bell crank 15. A turn buckle 19 is included in the rod for the purpose of v adjusting the length of saidrod.

. for'controlling the speed of his car, oneof In the operation of this form of throttleaccelerator the driver of the car is provided with the foot pedal 11 and handcontrol 4:

which is adapted to work independently of the other in such a manner that the driver can depress the foot pedal 11 causing the bell crank 15 to move along the rod 8 and come in contact with'the pin 9, atwhich time the rod 8 moves forward causing the throttle 4 to be opened by the regulated movement imparted to the foot pedal. 1

In a similar manner the driver of the car may manually operate'the-hand control lever 4 which will cause the arm 6 and correlated cuff 7 to'rnove along the throttle control rod 8 until the cuff 7 has contacted the fork 16 at which juncture the throttle control rod is 7 again moved forward'to regulate the open- V of the bell crank in order thatthe foot of the ing of thefthrottle- V The specially deslgned'foot pedal shown in Fig. 3 should beused in connection with the accelerator parts constituting my inven- ,tion. 7 The curved foot pedal should be formed on a radius aboutequal to the throw operator may work smoothly over the pedal contour as it. is depressed. This type of pedal will enable the driver to more'gradually feed the motor and secure 'a steadier i V and more'uniformly smooth operation of the automobile. It will not slip under the foot on rough roads, and is very efl'ectivefor cross country "driving.

The elements constituting my invention The upper end of the are few in number and simplified in design and capable of being applied to a Ford car or other automobile in a short time, and its use'makesdriving the car more convenient and restful, and also gives economy to the operation of the engine since the use of the .foot accelerator keeps the engine throttle to a minimum speed when the engine is not in motion. 7

The present nvention is presented as an improved form over my previous patent and provides a device superior in "operation, smooth and flexible 1n movement, and one 111 which the several parts will not bind, due to the swing orpivotal action of the bell crank 15 and arm 6. When the arm 6 swings about its axis there would be a binding of the parts if not for the action-0f the hinge leaf 14 which compensates for this'tendency by undergoing a slight movement on the pivot pin 14, and in this manner there is brought about the desired smoothness in motion of the parts.

Having thus described my invention, what i with the bell crank for the purpose of con.-

trolling same, of a cult slidably' confined upon the throttle control rod a hand control lever arranged adjacent to the steering wheel, and a suitable connecting arm fixed upon the control lever and having pivotal connection with the cuff and a flexible bracket fixed to the engine and adapted to support the accelerator device.

2. An accelerator for engines to control the throttle thereof,'said accelerator being of the type which employs a bell-crank with a pedal and rod connection to work the bellcrank, and a rod connection from the bellcrank to the engine throttle, and ChZLIZLCtGl" ized asnew in thata bracket made of hinged sections is anchored to any suitable point of support and pivotally supports the accelerator sothat sufficient flexibility is derived to 'make a srnoothoperating mechanism.

' v In testimony whereof I atfixmy signature.

PLEAS E. VINEYARD. 

